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Seized 1 billion from Menarini

 

Lucia Aleotti, with the Mayor of Florence Matteo Renzi, during the press conference for the donation of PCs to the associations and schools of the Province

The Florence prosecutor's office requested and obtained the seizure of 1 billion euro of money and assets as part of an investigation into the pharmaceutical company Menarini which had already started in 2009. Among the hypothesized crimes there would be money laundering, aggravated fraud, criminal association and tax violations from 2004 to 2009. The figure would be the one that, according to the investigators, would have been returned to Italy with the tax shield, the result of alleged illegal conduct cite. The Florence Public Prosecutor's Office allegedly contested the company's importation of pharmacological principles from China, which are not harmful to health, thanks to triangulations with countries with tax havens. "All the purchases of active ingredients were carried out at market values, as already found in previous checks, and therefore did not have any negative effect on the correct determination of company profits".

This was specified by the Menarini company, through its lawyer, Roberto Cordeiro Guerra. "The purchase cost of these active ingredients, in addition to being entirely reasonable for tax purposes - continues the lawyer - in no way affects the procedure for determining the price of sale of drugs to the public". "In fact, this price – concludes Cordeiro Guerra – is fixed by the national authorities according to transparent criteria regulated by a Community Directive in force since 1989 (the so-called Transparency Directive 89/105/EEC)".

"I would be very cautious: we are talking about an internationally known company, with 13,000 employees, the 60% exports to 60 countries around the world". This is the comment of the president of Farmindustria, Sergio Dompé, on the sidelines of the presentation of the volume 'Women's health. A gender approach'. P

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Fedaiisf Federazione delle Associazioni Italiane degli Informatori Scientifici del Farmaco e del Parafarmaco